


Dumb the Encore

by Pluttskutt



Series: FH Flatmates AU [22]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-06 03:36:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13402632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pluttskutt/pseuds/Pluttskutt
Summary: Garrett still isn't doing all too well but tries his best not to let that dark pit lure him in. A slideshow from the best day in his life would be a great way to calm down.





	1. Tactless

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you my trusty writers group (Shout out to Nackledamia) for Beta reading. I hope you enjoy this part! It has 3 chapters :') The rating isn't for anything explicit but I don't wanna get in trouble. Ha.

Grey clouds covered the evening sky, effectively blocking out the little sunlight that existed. Garrett didn't complain about the weather much except when it would make it unpleasant to walk Cooper. He often drove Cooper to a big nature reservoir and jogging there wasn't enjoyable in lousy weather. If there was a chance of rain he'd get soaked and sick, which wasn't fun either. It had been a long time since he was sick with fever and he intended to keep it that way.

Instead of risking the chance of being drenched he had jogged around the neighbourhood and went to pick up the photos from his mum's remembrance day. Cooper had followed him around and headed for the car every time they walked out, but Garrett had managed to keep him distracted with frequent short walks.

That decision had been smart; rain poured down in intervals and would have drenched his clothes. He knew he'd gotten sick if he'd been further from home in wet clothes and unable to change.

On Leandras’ remembrance day they had hired a professional photographer. Bethany had tasked him a while ago to look through the pictures but he hadn’t done so. While the bad weather was gloomy it felt like a sign to do as he had promised.

His computer was an option, but he wanted to see the images on the TV: bigger screen, bigger resolution. Reliving that day required guts he couldn’t muster himself but he believed that with Fenris’ support he could go through it. Pushing people away was Garrett's speciality — he knew this and wanted to work on it.

Fenris stirred the chocolate mix on the stove. He relished in the chocolate chips that could be melted and made into hot chocolate; barely one evening passed without him making one. "Do you want the kitchen? I am almost done." 

"No," Garrett answered, smiling. Because he drank neither coffee nor tea, there were no other hot drinks at their place to warm up with. He had suggested soup in the past only to be dismissed with a rather disgusted frown. At least he had learnt that soup —  like fish —  wasn't a dish Fenris favoured.

Fenris took his time and finished what he wanted. He removed the pot from the stove and poured the chocolate into a mug. "Do you want something?" His eyebrows raised, and he tilted his head slightly to the side in an inquisitive manner.

Garrett uncrossed his arms (unaware he'd crossed them at all) and put his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "Yeah, I... Earlier I went out with Cooper and..." he scratched his chin with his thumb. "I picked up the photos of... I picked up the hard drive with the photos and videos of... The photographer we hired for my mum's remembrance day gave me the hard drive of the photos she took." He sighed heavily at the end and shut his eyes. _How can it be so difficult to get to the point,_   he thought.

Fenris grabbed the ears of his mug and averted his eyes to the side. "Do you want silence to look through them?" An offer to be quiet and stay away, disguised as a question.

"No, I..." Garrett inhaled and opened his eyes. "I want you to look at them. With me. If you want?" he asked finally, not wanting to put Fenris in an awkward position. Fenris knew little to nothing of Ferelden customs and it might make him uncomfortable. What had happened between them that day wasn't a fond memory either. Garrett doubted Fenris remembered it fondly either. 

s," Fenris responded, looking at him. "I enjoy spending time with you, no matter what we do." His eyes widened after he spoke, and he quickly turned his head to the side and looked away.

"Me too," Garrett responded, rubbing his beard while thinking if he should tease or simply drop it. For the sake of their relationship, he chose not to tease. "I'll set it up in your room, won't take long," he said, and walked out of the kitchen. The hard drive laid on the shoe shelf, and he grabbed it on his way. Connecting it to the adapter and boot it up was easy enough.

Fenris walked in behind him and sat down at the edge of the bed. They were both silent as they waited for the hard drive to connect and boot up.

The screen flashed and a picture popped up; yellow tablecloth decorated tables, yellow curtains, yellow carpet, and yellow guests. Garrett wondered if anyone had thought about it then — he hadn't realised how yellow it had been until he saw the pictures. Familiar and unfamiliar faces appeared amongst the guests: distant family, old friends, friends of friends, and strangers.

"Garrett," Fenris said his name.

Warm fingers touched Garrett's. A shiver went up his arm. "Yeah?" A pit formed at the bottom of his stomach; a bottomless hole ate him up from the inside, threatened to trap him forever in the dark void that followed him.

Fenris intertwined their fingers and pulled Garrett's hand to him. "Sit on the bed with me?" Voice low, like he didn't dare to make it a command and not a suggestion.

Garrett looked at their intertwined hands. Warmth spread from the touch and pushed down the growing pit in his stomach. "Yeah," he agreed.

A soft smile appeared on Fenris' face. They sat down next to each other, fingers still intertwined. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

Garrett brushed his thumb on Fenris' hand. "Yeah." He realized it was the third time he said that word. He frowned and looked away. "It has to be done. Might as well do it now, right?" A nervous chuckle sounded from him after that, but he didn't find anything funny.

Fenris brought his mug up to his lips. "We will look through all of them?" A seemingly impossible task as there was a mountain of pictures.

Garrett sighed, and aimed the remote at the TV. "Let's see how far we come." Better to say he'd go as far as he could muster than set an impossible goal and disappoint himself. He inhaled deeply and held it in for five seconds.

Fenris squeezed his fingers and put their hands on his thigh. Silence overtook the room. He sipped his chocolate but didn't talk.

Picture after picture showed up on the screen and Garrett had little to say about them. Unsure if he even took in the pictures he kept scrolling. A painted portrait of his family stopped him.

It was a family portrait painted when they had been younger; before Cooper had joined their family, when their father had been alive. Marian's unruly hair had been painted similar to Bethany's, as had Garrett's. He guessed a photo would capture his bird nest — as Marian had called it — better than a painted family portrait.

Fenris squeezed his fingers. "That man... is your father?" he asked.

Garrett's eyes wandered over the painting. His father —Malcolm— stood proudly with his hand on Marian's shoulder and Carver in his arms. Bethany held onto their mother's yellow dress. "Malcolm," he responded. They had been happy.

"Was yellow Leandra's favourite colour?" Fenris asked. A fair question as that had been the theme of her remembrance day and the colour he had been requested to wear.

Garrett nodded absently. "She… our farm was next to a field of sunflowers." The field was still a clear image in his head. She had said sunrises and sunsets were prettier in Ferelden, and he agreed.

"I see," Fenris said, and sipped his hot chocolate. "What about lavender?"

The pit in Garrett's stomach grew larger. His throat dried up. He swallowed in an attempt to control himself. "Marian. Marian's colour." _Maybe it had been too much after all,_ he thought. The next file was a video, but the screen was black as it buffered.

Fenris searched his eyes. "Are you okay?" He put Garrett's hand to his lips.

Garrett caressed Fenris' cheek and smiled. "Thank you." It shocked him how much Fenris' presence helped him.

Groans sounded from the speakers. Fenris' eyes widened. His jaw tensed. His lips parted but only a shaky breath came out.

The video played on the screen. Fenris sat with his knees on the floor. Green rope tied his wrists together behind his back. His tattoos — markings — made it impossible to mistake him for anyone else. A man stood in front of him; pants down, lips a wicked smirk. He grabbed Fenris' hair and pulled him towards his erect cock.

"Turn it off." Fenris' voice was quiet, almost inaudible. "Turn it off," he repeated. "Turn it off!" He dove for the remote. The mug smashed on the floor  and chocolate splashed everywhere.

Garrett shot up from the bed. An itch ached in his whole body. _How did that film end up with the photos,_ he wondered, certain the photographer couldn't have uploaded it to the hard drive.

Fenris chest heaved up and down in short breaths. "Why didn't you turn it off?" he asked, voice low.

No words came to Garrett. Thoughts swirled around in his mind; desperately he tried to piece together how that video existed on his hard drive while evading where that video originated from.

"Do you want to keep watching it?" Fenris looked at him, lips pulled to a snarl. "Maybe I should leave so you can finish it?" He raised his voice. Intense eyes dared Garrett to speak, to prove him wrong.

Garrett reached his hand out to touch him — to comfort him—  and didn't realise how wrong it was.

Fenris recoiled from his touch. "Don't touch me!" He shouted to keep his voice steady. His grip on the remote tightened.

Garrett frowned. "Why are you yelling at me? I didn't-"

"Get out!" Fenris interrupted. "Or maybe I should go so you can watch the video in peace?" he questioned, eyes boring holes through Garrett's skull.

Garrett put his hands in the air and backed a step. "We need to talk about this." He tried to reason. They had to find out how that film got on the hard drive. If the photographer knew about Fenris then he wasn't safe.

Fenris' hand curled into a fist. "Talk? Do you want to talk about this?" He took a step forward. "Want to try it? Is that why you didn't turn it off? Because it turns you on?" Venom dripped of his voice, each word a stab aiming to kill. His face was a mere inch away from touching Garrett's. "Get. Out."

Garrett narrowed his eyes; he didn't want to fight but if Fenris wished him gone so desperately then fine. "Okay, sure, whatever," he muttered and turned around. He grabbed Cooper and walked out of the apartment.

 


	2. Please

Fenris clutched the pillow to his body. How long he'd laid on the bed he didn't know; it was dark and quiet in the apartment, people no longer opened the gate door and their voices didn't echo in the stairwell. For hours he'd lain on his bed, unmoving.

Garrett hadn't paused the video clip. It had frightened Fenris because he thought the movie enticed Garrett; that he wanted to talk about it because he wanted to try it out, maybe even make their own. In his fear he did what he had never done before  — talked back. Garrett had given up and left but he had been gone for so long and Fenris wished he hadn't opened his dumb mouth and told him to leave.

"Kaffas," he muttered, and brought his knees up to his chest. He shut his eyes tight. Their relationship had been better when they were friends. He had ruined everything with that dumb confession.

Garrett hadn't called or sent a text. Exactly how many hours had passed Fenris wasn't sure, but he had fallen asleep twice and Garrett had yet to be back.

He bit his lower lip and looked at his phone. He had never spent a night alone in the apartment. When Garrett's siblings had visited and lived at the Amell Estate he thought he'd have to.  Garrett had slept one night at the estate but left Cooper at home; the other nights he came home, so Fenris had never spent a night alone in the apartment.

"Please," he whispered, and grabbed his phone. Garrett's number was first on his contact list as both frequent and favourite. He stared at the number, taking a deep breath, unsure if he should call. 

The screen lit up when he pressed the green phone symbol. He brought his phone to his ear and waited. It dialled for what felt like an eternity. "Please," Fenris repeated, and shut his eyes. "Garrett, please." The dial tone stopped. He held his breath.

"Fenris." Garrett sighed his name. "Are you awake?" His tone was apathetic like he didn't care that Fenris couldn't sleep.

Fenris swallowed. His jaw tensed when he attempted to speak. "Come back," he ordered in one breath.

Garrett sighed. He smacked his lips.

"Please," Fenris pleaded.

The line was quiet. Garrett sighed again. "Yeah, yeah, of course," Garrett said, his tone softer.

The gate door opened, causing Fenris to twitch. "Thank you," he said. Footsteps echoed in the stairwell. He prefered the estate to the apartment; fewer sounds.

"I'll be home in forty minutes, okay?" 

Fenris bit his lower lip. His brow furrowed and he tilted his head. No door in the stairwell had opened but the footsteps had seized. "I…" Something out in the hallway made a sound.  _ No, not the hallway,  _ he thought, _ outside the front door _ .

"Are you falling asleep?" Garrett asked, and chuckled.

Fenris' eyes widened. His nostrils flared. "Someone's in the apartment," he whispered.

"What? Someone… Get out of there! Shit!"

"I do not think I can," Fenris whispered. A floorboard in the hallway creaked. He inhaled sharply. Making no sound he rolled down from the bed, and in under it. "I did not think Danarius would go to this extent to find me."

"What about the bathroom?!" Garrett spoke rushed.

Fenris wanted to say there wasn't time; they were inside the apartment and outside his room. The drapery swished when they pulled it aside. Brown boots were all he saw from under the bed. They came closer and turned the light on. He shuts his eyes from the brightness and scrunched his nose. Opened them and met brown eyes on a thin face. 

His lips spread into a malicious grin and he called out to the others. He stretched his hands out to catch Fenris.

Fenris backed away out of reach, wishing he grabbed a weapon to defend himself with instead of hiding.

Another intruder walked around the bed to the other side. He rolled to the middle of the bed. Arms reached for him from both sides but couldn't grab him.

He winced when a third pair of hands grabbed his ankles. He looked around for anything to grab onto under the bed. The only weapon he had was his phone and he wasn't sure the damage that'd do.

"Got him!" The person spoke with a thick Tevene accent and pulled him out.

Fenris elbowed him in the face the moment he was out. The person screamed and dropped him in favour of holding onto their sore nose. Fenris bolted for the exit. 

Someone tackled him to the floor, leaving him out of breath for a moment. They put a damp cloth to his mouth that smelt sweet. He struggled to free himself; kicking and scratching where he could reach, yelling at them to let him go.

"Shut him up!" One of them ordered. They yelled at each other in Tevene and Fenris crawled away. A harsh knee pressed onto his back to stop him. He yelped in pain. Something clicked next to his ear. He stopped moving.

"Know your place slave," a woman snickered, pressing the gun to his head.

He held his breath. Guns had been used to keep him in place before; they would be used again, and he had nowhere to run. He shut his eyes tight and waited. The gun brushed his ear.

"Up." The woman ordered.

He pushed himself up. The gun pressed into his back.

"Not a sound. Don't try to run. Got it, slave?" The woman asked, pressing him forward. "We don't want a run-in with the cops do we? Won't end well for you." She mocked.

He nodded shortly, afraid speaking would agitate them further. His pulse echoed in his ears. There had been a plan; an idea of a plan if they came after him, but he couldn't remember what that had been. 

One of the men inspected him closely. "Should we test him out to see if he's still as agile as Danarius taught him?" he asked.

Fenris' heart skipped a beat. His throat clogged up. He opened his mouth to breathe. 

"We have to get him to the car. Now." The woman ordered and shoved them forward. "His master pays us a great deal to deliver him. I'm not risking getting paid less because you're horny for a pet." She sneered. 

Fenris flinched inwardly at the use of the word. He gritted his teeth. "I'm not a pet." He spoke quietly.

The beating to his head shook him. He toppled over, and one of them grabbed his arm. He gritted his teeth and raised his fist.

The gun went off and the blast echoed through the building.

 


	3. Dazed

A throbbing pain in his left leg woke him up. His throat felt dry. He was vaguely aware there were people around him. Bright lights made it difficult to see anything. A heavy fog took over his mind. He shut his eyes.

He opened his eyes again and the blinding light was back. Everything was so white. The brightness hurt his eyes and he shut them tight. The pain in his leg had subdued. He wasn't sure he felt anything.

"Are you awake?" a woman asked, and something to his left rustled.

He turned his head and opened his eyes. She wore blue scrubs, like a nurse. Her hair was shaved and her ears bigger than his. He glanced at his hand. An IV went into it. _A hospital,_ he thought, and looked back at the nurse.

"Do you need anything?" she asked, a kind smile plastered on her face.  "Are you in pain? We can increase the morphine." She gestured to a blue button next to his hand.

He shook his head, a motion that took more of his energy than he thought. He parted his lips and attempted to speak. A dry groan was all he managed.

"You're at State Kirkwall, the most advanced hospital in the Marches. Your surgery went well and you should have a smooth recovery." Her eyes wandered over him as she spoke. "The papers say you have no relatives or spouse, but the police officer has assured the hospital you're not alone." She spoke slowly.

At the mention of the police, he turned his head to look at her. "Police?" he managed to rasp out. Police involvement wasn't good but he couldn't run any longer. If he was still in Kirkwall there was a chance they wouldn't take him.

"Officer Donnic is stationed outside your door."

Fenris shut his eyes. The nurse's voice tuned out and fatigue embraced him.

A soft tickle at his arm woke him up next time. He opened his eyes slowly; adjusting to the brightness. He turned his head to his side. Unruly black hair, brown eyes, and a soft smile met him.

"Hey sleepy," Garrett greeted him, tone as soft as his smile. He ran his fingers down Fenris' arm but stopped. "Nightmare?" he whispered, and his eyes shifted to the red button above Fenris' hospital bed.

A throbbing echoed in his ears and he wanted to sleep but he wanted to be sure it was real. "Garrett," he said, voice hoarse. He tried to reach his hand out to grab him but couldn't concentrate hard enough to move his muscles. The fog in his head wasn't clouding his thoughts so he knew Garrett was there in reach but his fingers were attached to a lump of clay.

"I'm here," Garrett said, and put his fingers in Fenris' hand. "You can sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." He gently brushed his fingers on Fenris' hand. It tickled.

"Should have told you," Fenris mumbled, stumbling over words. His lips and tongue moved faster than he could think of words to say.

Garrett sighed but recovered quickly and his warm smile was back. "You need sleep to recover. Okay? No one will hurt you again."

A promise made with sincere intention, but a promise that frightened Fenris. "You will stay?" he asked, closing his eyes. Garrett's presence soothed him. His voice, his touch, even the dog smell that followed him like a stinky cloud.

"I won't leave again." His promise was the last Fenris heard before sleep claimed him again.

The next time he woke up the fog in his head had been obliterated. A searing pain bolted in his left leg and he wondered if drugs were used to help for the pain, and also was the cause of the fog in his mind.

He groaned and opened his eyes. The room was empty. Big curtains covered the windows, but the blinding lights were on so the room wasn't dark. A TV sat on a table to his right with the remote next to it. _Brilliant,_ he thought, and sighed.

Hospitals weren't a common destination for him. When he had been sick enough to need a doctor in Tevinter, private ones had come to where he was, not the other way around. Slaves were not permitted medical care, and their children were often born where they lived. He had heard horror stories about the mothers passing out from pain, or dying because of blood loss.

The hospital in Kirkwall accepted him because Garrett gave him an identity. He owed Garrett a lot for that and had no idea how to ever repay him. His presence had soothed Fenris, and he wondered what that meant. Everyone needed their comfort zone, something that calmed them and made them feel safe, but was it good that his was Garrett? He wasn't sure about that.

He raised his hand with the IV connected to it. Why am I here, he wondered, and how did I get here? He remembered talking on the phone with Garrett, and Hadriana's people breaking into the apartment, but everything was blurry after they grabbed him.

They hurt him clearly — given the throbbing pain in his leg and that he was in the hospital —  but someone had to get him to the hospital. He found it hard to believe any of those thugs suddenly grew a conscience. It might have been an accident; someone caught them, or they hurt him so badly they didn't have a choice but to call for an ambulance. They fucked up, basically.

The door opened and a nurse stepped inside. She wore purple scrubs and smiled when their eyes met. "I see you're awake, how are you feeling?" she asked, walking over.

 _Not the same nurse as before,_ he thought, and masked his pain. "Fine. Where's Garrett?" Tone short, accusing, because he refused to say he was in pain. The nurse would just drug him back to sleep.

"Are you sure? I-"

"Where. Is. Garrett?" he bit out, muscles straining with each word. His jaw tensed. _He promised_ , he thought, _he promised to not leave._

The nurse walked to his bed. "He'll be back soon," she assured him. She reached for the blue button next to his bed.

"Don't!" He turned to stop her, and strained his leg. He cried out in pain and shut his eyes tight. Tears burned in his eyes. Everything ached and his stomach felt like a bottomless pit. How pathetic to be sad about being hungry, he thought, and inhaled sharply.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Garrett's voice sounded.

Fenris opened his eyes and stared at Garrett who now stood beside him. He hadn't heard him come into the room.

Garrett smiled when their eyes met. Gently he caressed Fenris' cheek. "You should rest." He spoke softly, as if not to agitate.

Fatigue crept onto Fenris before he realised why. "You said… you promised…" his bottom lip trembled. Tears wouldn't stop streaming down his face. He didn't want to be alone.

"I'm sorry," Garrett comforted him, and kissed his forehead. "I won't leave you again." He promised.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked the chapter don't forget to kudos and comment. We only have a few parts left now. Thanks for sticking with me and supporting me!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to kudos and leave a comment if you enjoyed~


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